The A-to-Z of Yeovil's History

by Bob Osborn

Yeovil People

The Robins
Family

Yeovil
shopkeepers
descended from
knife grinders

John Robins was
born in
Haselbury
Plucknett in
1818. In the
winter of 1839
he married Diana
Sarah Serjeant,
the daughter of
John Serjeant
and his wife
Martha, of
Bristol, at
Yeovil. By the
time of the 1851
census John and
Diana were
living in
South
Street with
their three
sons; Gildery,
Zacharias and
Hezekiah. John
gave his
occupation as a
razor grinder.
In the 1861
census the
family was still
living in South
Street where
John gave his
occupation as a
grinder of
cutlery. The
children
included
Gilderry aged
17, Zachariah
aged 14,
Hezekiah aged
10, Julia aged
eight, Er aged
seven, John aged
four and Aisle
aged one. The
three eldest
boys were all
labourers.

Gilderry later
moved to
Southampton
where he became
a railway engine
driver. He
married a girl
called Harriet
and they had
three daughters
and two sons.
Zachariah
married a girl
called Eliza,
from Montacute,
but by 1891 they
had moved to
Monmouthshire,
Wales. I lost
track of
Hezekiah, Julia
and John Jnr but
had more luck
with Er.

Er married Sarah
Ann Warr of
Mudford, in
Yeovil in 1879
when he was aged
25. They were to
have seven
children; John
Nathaniel (known
as Nat) born
1880, Thomas
William born
1883, Er
Hezekiah born
1886, Lily Jane
Diana Elizabeth
born 1889,
Lionel Ezel born
1891, Jesse
Emily born 1894
and Percy Roland
born 1896. In
the 1881 census
Er, Sarah and
baby John were
living in
Silver Street,
three doors
along from
gunsmith
Henry Little.
Er gave his
occupation as a
tinman. By 1891
the Er and Sarah
were living in
the Mudford Road
with their four
eldest children.
Er gave his
occupation as
cutler.

A snippet that
caught my eye in
the 10 June 1892
edition of the
Western Gazette
noted "Er
Robbins, a
scissors
grinder, pleaded
guilty to a
charge of having
been drunk at
Kingston on 3
May. Sgt Dicks
said the
defendant was
very drunk, and
was turned out
of the
Duke of York.
Fined 2s 6d and
6s costs." Then,
in the 6 January
1893 edition of
the Western
Gazette, was noted
"Er Robbins was
fined 5s and
costs for having
been drunk and
disorderly in
Kingston on 13
December."

The 1901
census found
that the family
had moved yet
again and were
now living at 8
Addlewell Lane.
Er listed his
occupation as
scissors grinder
(his grandson,
Tony Robins,
recalled that he
had his grinding
wheel located
under the
archway of the
old
Town Hall in
High Street
and during the
summertime
travelled
through Devon
and Cornwall
mending pots and
pans)
as his father
had been, while
John (listed as
Nathaniel)
worked as a
butter factory
labourer (at
Aplin &
Barrett's), Thomas
was a fish
hawker and
14-year-old Er
Hezekiah was
also a butter
factory
labourer. The
younger for
children were
all of
school-age. In
the 1911 census
Er and Sarah,
both aged 56,
had been married
for 32 years.
They were still
living in
Addlewell Lane
with Thomas and
Lionel, both
listed as
labourers, Emily
and Percy both
listed as
glovers. Er died
on 30 May 1930
at Yeovil at the
age of 77.
Although in
every record I
came across for
him he was
listed as Er,
the Register of
Deaths recorded
him as Eric (?).

Er's
son, John
Nathaniel, known
as Nat, was
born in Yeovil
in 1880. In
Yeovil in the
spring of 1901
Nat married
Sarah Jane Pike
of West Coker,
and in the 1901
census they were
listed as living
at 5
Victoria
Buildings
(see photo
below). Nat
gave his
occupation as a
glover.

By the
time of the 1911
census Nat and
Sarah, together
with their
nine-year-old
son Harold John
Nathaniel, were
living at 168
Park Street. Nat
listed his
occupation as a
carman in the
butter factory,
Aplin &
Barrett's. When
the First World
War broke out he
managed the
equivalent of a
NAAFI on
Salisbury Plain.

Nat briefly ran
a fish and chip
shop in
West
Hendford, on the
corner of Manor
Road which later
became Gray's
cabinet maker
shop, then Mike
Loveless'
betting shop and
is now a
hairdressers. He
bought the
Frederick Place
site around 1920
which included
the site of the
old Vicarage and
its yard. He had
a couple of
ex-army wooden
huts in the yard
from where he
started a
wholesale fruit
and fish
business. Nat and
Sarah then opened a
shop at 1
Frederick Place,
on the
north-east
corner of
Frederick Place
and Vicarage
Street (see
photo below)
selling
wet fish as well
as fruit and
vegetables,
groceries and
sweets. Tony
Robins, Nat's
grandson,
recalled
"During
the Depression
my grandfather
used to get
fresh fish
delivered from
Grimsby and
Lowestoft and he
had four lads,
including my
father, who used
to push his
barrows all
around the
streets and out
to the villages
such as Mudford
and Coker,
selling fish as
well as fruit
and veg. In
those days you
had what were
called
'knockers' -
young lads who
ran in front of
the barrow,
knocking on
doors to get
people's
attention."

Nat was listed,
under his real
name John
Robins, as a
shopkeeper at 1
Frederick Place
in Kelly's
Directory as
early as 1935
and was still
being listed in
the 'Groceries &
Provisions'
section of Edwin
Snell's
Directory of
1954.

Nat died in the
summer of 1949,
aged 69.

Yeovilians
remember...

Thanks
to Ron
Hilborne
for the
following
memories
of the
Robins
family -
"I lived
in 50
Vicarage
Street
in the
1930's
and used
to run
errands
for Nat
Robins
who was
Harold's
father.
Harold's
son
(Cliff)
once
built a
car with
a
propeller
on the
back. It
had a
big
guard
around
the
propeller
for
safety.
I don't
remember
his Dad
selling
fruit
and veg
but I
think
they had
a market
stall in
the
Borough
on
Saturdays.
Nat sold
sweets
and
chocolates
and
groceries.
A lot of
my
errands
were
over the
road to
Plowman's
the
wholesale
depot. I
used to
notice a
little
bit of
secrecy
take
place
when
some
customers
came in
the shop
and a
small
envelope
passed
over the
counter.
It was
of
course
one of
the few
places
where
contraceptives
could be
obtained
in those
days. I
am of
course
looking
back 78
years
but my
memory
is quite
good.
Regarding
the
contraceptives,
I think
there
was a
disc
about
the size
of a 50p
fixed to
the
counter
and if
you
required
a packet
you sort
of made
it known
by
putting
your
finger
on the
disc. It
was of
course
only
some
years
later
that I
knew
about
such
things.
Nat's
wife was
very
deaf and
spent
most of
her time
in the
window
at her
sewing
machine.
Harold
opened
the shop
in West
Hendford
which
must
have
been a
goldmine
with all
the
Westland's
staff
popping
in for
their
fags and
papers
on the
way to
work."

Nat and Sarah's
son, Harold
Robins, was born
in 1902 and when
he was old
enough worked
with his father.
Tony, Harold's
son, recalled
"Before he had a
barrow my father
had a horse and
cart (see photo
below) which he
used to sell
fruit and veg
from around the
streets - the
trouble was, he
could never
catch the bloody
horse in the
mornings. When
he got a car
they used to go
to Burton
Bradstock,
sleep on the
beach and when
the fishing
boats came back
in at 4:30 in
the morning,
load up with
mackerel, which
were almost free
as there were so
many of them and
they were so
easy to catch,
then they'd
drive back to
Yeovil. They put
the fish on the
handcarts and
take them round
the streets of
Yeovil by 8:00
in the morning.
Dad would shout
out "Mackerel,
mackerel - penny
each or eleven
for a shilling"
and people would
say "Harold,
that's not right
is it?" to which
he'd reply "How
many do you want
then?". For a
while Harold and
his family lived
in
Anchor Court,
almost opposite
his father's
shop, where his
son Clifford was
born.

When his father
Nat retired,
Harold bought
the Frederick
Place shop from
him. In 1927 he
bought the shop
on the corner of
Beer Street
and
West Hendford.
The building had
been
purpose-built as
a shop in 1888
and Harold
bought it from
the previous
shopkeeper, Mrs
Palmer.

Harold's son,
Tony, recalled
"My father was
slung out of the
local Chamber of
Trade because he
refused to shut
lunchtimes.
Early closing
was compulsory
by law at the
time but we were
allowed to sell
cigarettes - but
we got fined a
couple of times
as well for
selling other
things." Harold
was recorded as
a shopkeeper of
2 Beer Street in
the 1935 edition
of Kelly's
Directory and he
had three
separate entries
in Edwin Snell's
Directory of
1954 - as a
Newsagents &
Stationers, as
Groceries &
Provisions and
as a
Greengrocer, Fruiterer &
Florist.

After Harold
retired, his son
Tony took over
the shop which
finally closed
in 2002.

gallery

This postcard
of Silver Street dates to around
1900 with the
Pall Tavern
at extreme left.
The house
towards the
right with what
appears to be a
white door, was
the home of Er
and Sarah Robins
in the 1880s.

In trouble for
being drunk and
disorderly. This
report from the
10 June 1892
edition of the
Western Gazette.
(John
Bowers was a
labourer of New
Prospect Place).

Victoria
Buildings
photographed in
1963. At this
time only two
houses in the
terrace
were still occupied
and they were
demolished in
1965. Nat and
Sarah Robins
were living
here, in the
middle of the
terrace in 1901.

Courtesy of
Tony Robins

This photograph
dates to the
early 1920s and
shows Nat's shop
on the corner of
Frederick Place
and Vicarage
Street - JS
Robins (ie John
& Sarah).
Standing outside
is their son,
Harold, with the
handcarts used
to take their
wares around
town and nearby
villages such as
Mudford and
Coker.

Courtesy of
Tony Robins

This photograph
was taken from
Frederick Place
about 1935 and
looks across
Vicarage Street.
The sign of the
Albion Inn is
over the inn's
yard, the inn
itself was
off-photo to the
right. Tony
Robins' brother,
Cliff, is
sitting in the
cart aged about
two and wearing
a dress - as was
the fashion at
the time. Tony's dad,
Harold
Robins, is
holding the
horse. Tony's
granddad, Nat
Robins, had a
shop on the
eastern corner
of Frederick
Place, opposite
the inn, again
just off the
photograph to
the right. The
yard under the
sign was W
Walbridge &
sons, later Perry's,
builders yard.
The sign at top
left is for GH
Hawkins' Fish &
Chip Saloon.

Harold Robins'
invoice heading.
His son, Tony,
recalled "Our
telephone number
was originally
Yeovil 38, then
as more people
got telephones
they added a 2,
then they added
a 4 in front of
that. By the
time they
finished we had
a six-figure
number like
everyone else
but we always
kept the 38".

Courtesy of
Tony Robins

Outside Harold
Robins' shop on
Wednesday 9 July
1958.
The West
Hendford / Beer
Street / Horsey
Lane crossroads
was a bit of a
racetrack at the
time and this
car ended up on
its roof outside
the shop. The
driver of the
upturned vehicle
was Peter Unwin
(then a teacher
at Yeovil
School) and his
passenger was
another teacher,
Miss Whelan, who
taught music.
The car was
driven by Mr R
Cobner of 15
Kingston. Tony Robins
recalled "There
was petrol
pouring out of
the car and that
bloke was
standing there
with a lighted
cigarette in his
hand!"

Many
thanks
to Barry
Rawlings
for
passing
on this
snippet
from the
Western
Gazette's
edition
of 18
July
1958 -
“CROSS-ROAD
CRASH Mr
PR
Unwin, 2
Yeovil-road,
Montacute,
writes
thanking
all
those
kind
people
who were
so
helpful
after
the
accident
at the
Horsey-lane—West
Hendford
cross
roads on
Wednesday
week. Mr
Unwin
was
driving
a small
utility-type
vehicle
which
was
involved
in a
collision
with a
car
driven
by Mr R
Cobner
of 15
Kingston.”

Courtesy of
Tony Robins

The Robins' shop
on the corner of
Beer Street and
West Hendford.
Photographed in
the 1980s it
was, by this
time being run
by Tony Robins.

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